Chapter 37: Return (2)

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With her guard finally lowered, Hwi-yeon and the others began sharing ✧ NоvеIight ✧ (Original source) their stories.

"So, you've been searching for your sibling."

After hearing Hwi-yeon's explanation, Ju-hee's eyes glistened, as though she were on the verge of tears.

It was a far cry from the wariness she had shown at first.

And understandably so—she, too, had only just gotten her missing younger brother back.

Ju-hee had at least been fortunate enough to endure his disappearance for only a short while, thanks to Su-myeon.

Even so, those few days in which someone close to her had simply vanished without a trace had been harrowing.

For Hwi-yeon, that same ordeal had lasted ten years.

It was impossible not to sympathize.

"You must have been through so much."

Hwi-yeon, for her part, did not reject the consolation of a woman who had managed to get her own brother back.

Perhaps soon, she too would be able to find the sibling she had lost, just as Ju-hee had.

"First, could the guardian of patient Shin Hyeon-seok come over here?"

Young-cheol called Ju-hee over, saying Hyeon-seok's test results were in.

According to the results, Hyeon-seok showed no physical abnormalities for the time being.

He was slightly malnourished, but aside from that, he was in remarkably good health overall.

Even the bleeding caused by his skin splitting open all over his body had turned out to be less severe than expected.

"It's not even serious enough to require a transfusion, so there shouldn't be anything to worry about."

At the reassuring news, everyone breathed a collective sigh of relief.

After everything they had gone through to rescue him, having him die in the real world would have been a devastatingly anticlimactic end.

"He's been moved to a private room, so let's head over there."

Young-cheol gathered his things and rose with a deep sigh.

"I'm going to need some time to figure out how to explain this."

No matter how one looked at it, Hyeon-seok's wounds were anything but normal.

A perfectly healthy adult suddenly developing bizarre fissures all over his skin, with no underlying condition whatsoever?

And on top of that, a university hospital professor had personally taken an ambulance while off duty to bring the patient in.

There was more than enough for the nurses and other doctors to find suspicious.

"Um, about that......"

"I know. We can't let word of this reach anyone in the Shinseong Group either, right?"

When Ju-hee spoke anxiously, Young-cheol immediately understood what she meant.

Young-cheol himself had nearly died after following Ki San-hyeok into Ellis Hotel.

Since the group had effectively saved his life, he had every intention of helping them however he could.

"For now, I'll say he was accidentally exposed to the wrong chemicals. I'll make it work somehow. Probably...."

"Thank you."

Whether such an excuse could really account for wounds like Hyeon-seok's was questionable, but Ju-hee simply bowed deeply.

Hyeon-seok's private room was spacious even by the standards of a university hospital.

Wrapped from head to toe in bandages like a mummy, Hyeon-seok nevertheless looked peaceful.

"I survived. That's enough to be grateful for."

Seeing him like that, Hwi-yeon seemed so overwhelmed that she could not bring herself to go any closer.

She remained outside the room, unable to step inside.

Hyeon-seok looked like a critically ill patient, but his actual condition was not particularly serious.

Only the surface of his skin had split open, so as long as no infection or other complications arose, he could be discharged immediately.

"Of course, the skin around the joints and other areas that move a lot will probably take some time to heal completely."

Some scars would likely remain, but compared to the fact that he had survived, that hardly seemed worth worrying about.

With Hyeon-seok's safety confirmed, Du-pal and Han-su rose from their seats.

"Well, I should get going."

"I'll be heading out as well."

Unfortunately for the working adults among them, they still had jobs to report to the next morning and needed to get some rest.

Su-myeon also had no reason to intrude on the siblings' reunion, so he got up to leave.

He was thinking he might pick up some fried chicken for dinner on the way home, but—

"Would it be possible for us to talk a little more? Privately?"

Hwi-yeon, who had been waiting outside the room, approached Su-myeon.

She carried a somewhat heavy, somber air about her, but the fierce determination in her eyes reminded him of Han-su.

There was no reason to refuse, so Su-myeon nodded.

"Sure. Let's do that."

It was obvious that Hwi-yeon still had questions about him.

On top of that, Su-myeon knew she was an NIS agent and had to pretend that he did not.

'NIS agents don't normally reveal their identity.'

The chances of her admitting it first were slim.

But Su-myeon had little confidence in his ability to lie or put on an act.

If he tried to conceal things too clumsily, she would undoubtedly notice.

In that case, the important thing was to build enough trust to make up for it.

"Then, would you like to come to my place?"

Inviting her into a home where the absence of his parents was obvious at a glance would probably help lower her guard.

Besides, they were going to be discussing plenty of unbelievable things from here on out.

Better to do it somewhere comfortable than out in public.

Just as that thought crossed his mind, Su-myeon caught the faintly strange look on Hwi-yeon's face and hurriedly added:

"Both my parents disappeared. I'm only suggesting it because I think it'll be easier to understand if you see it yourself instead of listening to a long explanation."

***

Fortunately, Hwi-yeon accepted Su-myeon's invitation without suspicion or misunderstanding.

It was mildly embarrassing that his suggestion had nearly sounded like some pointless ulterior motive, but once they arrived at his home, Hwi-yeon's expression turned solemn as she nodded.

The atmosphere of a home that people actually lived in was not something easily fabricated.

And in that regard, there was unmistakably something wrong with Su-myeon's house.

It was spotless and meticulously maintained, yet at the same time, there were signs that it had recently begun to fall into neglect, leaving the place subtly disordered.

More tellingly, the family photographs scattered throughout the house clearly contained spaces where other people should have been—only now, they had become awkward pictures of Su-myeon standing alone.

"My sibling disappeared from the photos too."

After seeing all of this, Hwi-yeon lowered her guard another notch and pulled a worn photograph from her wallet.

It showed a young child clearly leaning against someone, as though the picture had originally been taken of two people together.

And yet, as if the child were resting against a pane of invisible glass, there was nothing on the other side but empty space.

"I'll tell you everything I know."

Su-myeon intended to be as open with her as possible and tell her everything he could.

Hwi-yeon had not been a character in the main story, but she had been the protagonist of a special episode.

On top of that, she had persistently raised the issue of mysterious disappearances within the NIS.

Thanks to her efforts, even the government had eventually come to recognize, at least to some extent, that something unusual was happening.

That had been Hwi-yeon's role—broadening the scope of the world itself.

'Young-cheol was right. She could be useful.'

Su-myeon told her roughly the same things he had already shared with the rest of the group.

He also revealed, within reasonable limits, the truth about how he had learned about the ghost stories and some of their details through a game.

Naturally, he omitted the one thing he always left unsaid—that the people around him were characters from that game.

"......."

After listening to Su-myeon's story, Hwi-yeon remained lost in thought for a moment before finally nodding.

"That computer doesn't sound normal either."

She had a point.

It was exactly the sort of thing that sounded insane.

Su-myeon gave a wry smile and cracked open a can of beer.

"Was there anything remotely normal about what I just told you?"

After taking a few sips, he casually cast out some bait.

"Mimi Mountain Lodge."

At those words, Hwi-yeon froze.

"How do you......"

"The ghost story involving that lodge is one of the files on my computer."

A mysterious forest people stumbled into after investigating a supposedly haunted house.

A forest where wolves roamed and the sun never rose—Su-myeon knew about it as well.

And it was the very place Hwi-yeon had spent all these years desperately searching for.

"But even if you go there, you won't be able to enter that forest again."

"Obviously. There's an entry condition."

The instant Su-myeon said that, Hwi-yeon looked ready to bolt for the door.

But Su-myeon stopped her, made her sit back down, and placed a can of beer in front of her instead.

"Even if you went in right now, I'm not confident I could bring your sibling back."

If they went in as they were now, all they would accomplish was dying together.

When Su-myeon stated it so bluntly, Hwi-yeon gripped the can in slightly trembling hands and drained it in one go.

'Hwi-yeon's situation is a little different from everyone else's.'

For the others, the realization that someone they loved was missing had struck the moment they escaped the hotel.

It was a strangely unreal sensation, and the grief and loss that came with it had been vague, almost intangible.

It was as if a hole had been punched through their everyday lives, leaving only them aware that someone had been erased.

The feeling had settled in gradually, growing clearer with each passing day.

But Hwi-yeon had escaped from a ghost story alone after leaving her sibling behind inside.

The emotions she carried were probably different even from what Su-myeon himself felt after losing his parents.

"The reason I went in to rescue Shin Hyeon-seok was because I'd clearly seen him and confirmed that he was there. Since he hadn't yet been completely assimilated into that world, rescuing him was comparatively easy."

Rather than offer awkward words of sympathy, Su-myeon laid out the reality of the situation as plainly as he could.

But the more coldly he explained it, the clearer one thing became.

"If we prepare thoroughly before making our move, there will be a chance."

However faint it might be, a possibility still existed.

Hwi-yeon fixed her attention on that single fact. Struggling visibly to keep desperation from overwhelming her, she drew a slow, deliberate breath.

The empty beer can in her hand gradually crumpled beneath her fingers.

Watching Hwi-yeon sink into thought as she sorted through everything he had told her, Su-myeon felt a measure of relief himself.

Han-su had been a dependable ally as the protagonist of the main story, and Hwi-yeon was no different.

Su-myeon had no idea how many more ghost stories he would have to enter before he could rescue his parents.

The more companions he had to share the danger with, the better.

"Come to think of it, couldn't that computer itself be considered one of those paranormal phenomena?"

Hwi-yeon spoke once she had finished organizing her thoughts.

Not quite understanding what she meant, Su-myeon asked:

"...Sorry?"

"The data on that computer is visible only to you, while everyone else sees nothing. Isn't that what you said?"

Hwi-yeon explained that the underlying structure seemed remarkably similar to the paranormal phenomena they had been discussing.

"Missing people who can only be perceived by those who have experienced a ghost story. Data on a computer that can only be perceived by you, Su-myeon."

Aren't those essentially the same thing?

At Hwi-yeon's words, Su-myeon straightened from where he had been leaning against the sofa.

Hwi-yeon, apparently having finally arranged the entire situation in her mind, nodded and rose to her feet.

"For now, I understand your objectives and your methods, Su-myeon. I think it would be best if I gathered the cases involving paranormal phenomena and came back once I've compiled the information."

The emotions that had been wavering only moments earlier had now settled completely, and her tone had returned to something crisp and businesslike.

She was grateful that all the information she had painstakingly gathered over the years about missing people had not been useless after all.

If it could somehow help—if it could lead her to her sibling—Hwi-yeon was prepared to do whatever it took, clinging to that single hope.

"Then I'll contact you again if I find anything else."

Hwi-yeon left after a polite farewell.

As silence settled over the house once more, Su-myeon's gaze fell upon the sukajan and the Cheshire doll he had set aside.

Covered in grime and dust.

Objects that served no purpose here in reality.

Special items that functioned only within the paranormal phenomena known as ghost stories.

But if his computer was itself one of those paranormal phenomena...?

"......."

There was nothing left to think about.

Su-myeon immediately stood, picked up the Cheshire doll, brushed some of the dust off it, and placed it on top of the computer.

The plush doll, nothing more than an ordinary stuffed toy, flopped limply onto its side.

As expected, there was no way it would move.

Just as Su-myeon reached out to pick it up again,

"Fwaaahm."

The cat doll let out a leisurely yawn and stretched.